A New Storm
by TheLazyAuthor
Summary: This is a story that takes place in the Naruto universe about 200 years after Naruto's generation. The story focuses on Saru Uzumaki and his journey to becoming the strongest shinobi with Team 13. Full of OCS, action, and creative plots. I'll post every week. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A Genin at Last**

**Introductions Arc**

**Disclaimer: Senri belongs Natsumi Mukai. I am only using him to further my story. All other characters and plot belong to me. Enjoy.**

It was Saru Uzumaki's final day in the ninja academy. His blonde hair shined brightly as the heat of the sun beat down on it. His lightly tanned skin radiated with sweat from sitting in a hot classroom all day. He was in a simple black top and white pants with the Uzumaki symbol on the side. His emerald green eyes gazed around for what must have been the 100th time. _This is taking forever_, he thought.

It was time for the final exam. Sure he was excited, but he was more concerned to see if Raven Uchiha would pass it. Raven was the girl with inky black hair that sat next to him all year. He tried to talk to her, but she was never really interested in him.

Fiercely he thought, _that is definitely going to change once we get put on the same team_.

Very quickly, he found out the Raven's favorite color was purple. Throughout the entire year she came to school in different assortments of purple and black tops and bottoms. Today, she had a purple striped black shirt with black pants. He looked away, so she wouldn't see him staring.

From the first moment he saw her, he couldn't help but marvel at her beauty. _It just isn't fair,_ he thought. _Why doesn't she just notice how awesome I am already_?

Looking around to distract himself, he saw the red and tan paint chipping of walls of the classroom. The air smelling of old paper. That smell has always bothered Saru, but not for much longer. He was almost free from all the bookwork and could get on to some real ninja duties.

"Kira sensei is already 20 minutes late. Can she take any longer? I can't stand being bored for this length of time," Saru complained.

"Saru," Raven chided. "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why she's not here yet."

"But Raven, she's taking so loooonnnnnggg."

"Who's taking so long Saru," a voice whispered menacingly behind him.

Slowly, he turned around to stare into the eyes of Kira sensei glaring at him.

She stood up to her full height of 5'7'' staring down at him with her crimson eyes. Her jet-black hair came down past her shoulders onto her back. It was swaying with the wind from the open window. She had on a black shirt, pants, and green vest that most chunin and jonin wore.

"It's a funny story actually," Saru began to laugh nervously. "We were just talking about you."

Coldly Kira spoke, "Instead of concerning yourself with what I do, maybe you should be studying for the final exam."

At that, Saru's grin sprung out blinding the room. "Oh, that won't be problem," he assured her confidently.

"Hmm," Kira said as she walked toward the front of the class. "Now then," Kira spoke in an authoritative voice that quieted the class down instantly. "As all of you know, we will be having your graduation exam to see if you are ready to become genin. The exam will be on the Transformation jutsu, the Substitution jutsu, and the Clone jutsu. I warn you all now. A large portion of you will be staying in the academy. Now then to get this underway. When you hear your name being called, get up and walk to the room across the hall. You will be performing the exam there." Picking up her clipboard from her desk and glancing at it she calls, "First up, Raven Uchiha."

"Oh," Raven squeaks out in surprise. Then cheerfully, "I'm ready, Kira sensei."

As she starts to get up Saru calls out supportively, "I know you'll do great Raven."

"Thanks, but I'm not quite as good as you, Saru."

Hearing this brought a great blush to his face. _Luckily she turned away just in time,_ he thought.

_**Bah. What was that? You expect to get the ladies and you blush at something like that. You humans are so pitiable. It's not even funny, **_Son Goku exclaimed harshly.

Sighing and closing his eyes, Saru began to dive into himself. He let himself be enveloped by the special room that contained his tailed beast. The room was about 2000 feet high and wide. It was covered in a dense jungle that moved as if it was going to attack intruders at any sign of trouble. It had a single clearing with brown dirt where the four tails was allowed to lay. Opening his eyes he saw he was face to face with Son Goku.

Saru was once again reminded of how cool Son looked. He was 40 feet tall, easily enveloping most of the space around him in the room. He had green skin with red fur all over. He was packed with muscle, and had a build like a gorilla. Saru liked his face best of all. His face was covered in the red fur with only skin showing on his ears and nose to eyes and forehead. He had two elongated blunt fangs coming down form ether side of his mouth. His pair of horns, curving upwards from his forehead, formed a crown. Strangely enough, had a big round opening in his mouth and no tongue. He had white pupils surrounded by starch yellow irises. Those eyes were now directly staring into his eyes.

_Cut me some slack, _Saru yelled defiantly back while holding his ground against the great beast. _I'd like to see you try charming the most beautiful 12-year-old ninja that ever lived._

_**Whatever. I'm going to sleep**__, _Son says suddenly uninterested._**Wake me if anything interesting happens. **_As Son was turned around causing a dust cloud to form, Saru's eyes burned as he squinted to see Son's four tails. Each one was at least 30 feet in length and had spike like protrusions coming out of them.

As Son had already fallen asleep, Saru took it as a sign that he should leave and go back to reality. He closed his eyes once again and imagined the room around him melting away as if someone sprayed water on a painting. Within a few seconds he was back.

Saru opened his eyes and found to his dismay that that everybody was gone. "Where did everybody go?" he said aloud in surprise. _Crap. I have to get a hold of controlling the time I take while I'm in there, _he mentally scolded himself.

Out of nowhere Kira's voice drifted into the room. "Senri Tooa," it said matter a fact.

A boy stood up from behind Gentatsu and started a slow graceful tread toward the door. Senri snapped his head up and stared dumfounded at the boy. _Where did he come from? I didn't even sense his presence, _Saru thought astonished. _He looks like some Indian or something._

Looking at him Saru couldn't help but notice how tall he was. Exasperated he thought, _He must be at least 5'4''. How's that fair? He gets awesome height, and I get stuck with 4'10''._

Taking a closer look he noticed Senri had a deep tan. _It's as if he spends all his time in the sun_. With a shock he saw his brown hair and eyes with a bandage covering one eye. _I wonder what happened,_ Saru thought curious.

Saru saw that he was only covered in a plain light brown shirt and pants. As the tall boy turned and made his way out the door Saru was shocked to see an expression of serenity on the boys face.

"Finally," Saru shouted to the empty room. "I can have my space." Leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the desk, he started to wonder how Raven did. _She probably did fine,_ he assured himself.

Exclaiming out in happiness, " Hey, when we get put on the same team, she can finally see the real me! Then we'll get together and we can be the strongest of the leaf village."

While he mused on with his thoughts, Kira's stern voice appeared in the room again. "Last up is Saru Uzumaki."

"It's about time Kira sensei," Saru said while hopping up. "Do you know how long you've kept me waiting?" Confidently he says, "Oh well, I guess if you have to save the best for last I can't stop you." Walking up the wooden floor of the classroom he suddenly started to panic. _Where'd all my confidence go?_ he thought nervously. As he went passed rows of desk, his palms began to sweat. _Why am I getting so nervous? After all I'm the best ninja there is, _he tried to assure himself_._

He kept telling himself this as he went out of the door and across the hall. Stopping just before the door he froze. _Close your eyes,_ he told himself soothingly, _and let yourself relax._ He stood in the narrow hallway letting the cool breeze wash over his hot skin.

Opening his eyes, he noticed all the details before him. The chipping paint of the hallway same as the classroom. The sound of the creaking boards drifted up to him, from the place where he stood. The door that stood before him was unmarked. It was dark brown with the bright silver handle close to his right hand. Turning the handle and opening the door he let the bright light swarm over him. With a grin plastered on his face, he thinks half encouraging half sarcastic. _Here goes nothing I guess._

Kira's Perspective

Sighing, she pumped chakra into her vocal cords and sternly called, "Last up is Saru Uzumaki." _It's finally the last one,_ Kira thought exasperated. _After Saru, I can take a break from the academy and go on missions again. I'm getting too rusty just staying in the ninja academy teaching._

Kira looked at the hot room she was forced to sit in for the last hour. The walls and ceiling were a lime green. There was a single desk and chair, which she was sitting at. The only other object in the room was a potted plant in the corner that was very leafy. Most of the reason it felt hot was because the air felt like it was charged due to all the failed attempts of the students to release their chakra properly. She sat up straighter in her chair, feeling the hard wood press against her back. Kira heard a noise outside the door. She figured Saru was outside, and decided that she should just wait patiently.

And after a minute or two of waiting, Saru opened the door with a bang and charged in. He had a smile on his face that was all confidence and a twinkle in his green eyes that screamed mischievousness.

Pushing down her exasperation, she put up her cool mask once again and stated, "You must first perform the Transformation jutsu."

"No problem teach," Saru said smoothly. Watching him make the correct handsign, she checked off a box on her list. Then she watched him build up chakra into his chest. He then let the chakra flow out and cover his body as a smoke appeared around him. When the smoke cleared she saw a little brown monkey in his place.

_Very impressive,_ she thought appraisingly. She checked off a few more boxes. _Usually beginners need to study a subject thoroughly before transforming into one, and there aren't any monkeys around here that he'd have a chance to study._

"You can transform back now."

"So what else do you have for me?" Saru says cockily.

"Next you have to complete the Substitution jutsu," Kira spoke authoritatively. _For this one, he has to use a quick burst of chakra to increase his speed, so he can replace himself with another object around him without me noticing._

"Whatever you say Kira sensei," Saru spoke in a childish tone with a mock salute. He then built up chakra in his legs, preparing to make the switch. With a burst of smoke he grabbed the clipboard out of her hands and tried to jump behind her. Instead he tripped on the desk and fell on his face.

Gritting her teeth, Kira said, "Next time you try to use the Substitution jutsu, make sure you pick an object that I can't see. Not something in my hand." _She checked off no boxes for that one. The only thing he did right was build up his chakra,_ she grumbled. _You couldn't even execute it properly. _With her anger under control, Kira told him, "Finally, you have to successfully perform the Clone jutsu."

Saru let out a sigh of relief. Performing the handsigns quickly, he built up a manageable amount of chakra and spit it into 4 equal sections. Doing this, he successfully created 4 identical clones of himself.

Checking off a row of boxes, she had to admit to herself that he impressed her with the last jutsu. Out of all the people she tested, nobody did the clone jutsu as smoothly or as well as Saru. But there was still the matter of him messing up the Substitution jutsu.

"Well?" Saru asked with a tinge of desperation. "How'd I do?"

Letting out a sigh of a hard day at work, Kira glanced quickly at her clipboard and back to Saru. She counted the points up that he earned. Kira looked unblinkingly into Saru's eyes and said, "You…"

Saru's Perspective

Kira's piercing gaze was unnerving. He could hardly concentrate on anything with her looking at him like that. _I can't believe I messed up on the Substitution jutsu,_ Saru cursed to himself_. I must have practiced it a thousand times. How could I be so stupid!? Now I might fail and not be able to become an awesome ninja. I might not be able to be with Raven._

As his horror was spreading he heard, "You… passed. Congratulations, you are now a genin."

He let out the biggest cry of happiness that he thought was possible. Jumping all over he cried, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You will not regret this. Yes, now I'm on my way to becoming the strongest ninja there ever was, and I can be with Raven."

"Settle down Saru." Kira said, forcefully breaking through his dance of euphoria. "You're going to want to settle down because you're not done."

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "I thought I was done. You told me I was done. You can't just-"

Standing up quickly Kira shouted sternly, "I said settle down." Saru stopped talking immediately and looked her. "Now, you're going to want to head to room 3-A with the rest of the students that passed. Wait there for me."

Saru couldn't get out of the classroom fast enough. Walking down the familiar hallways to his former weapons class was a breeze. Thoughts of him on missions filled his mind as he walked through the twisting hallways. He approached the door with the number 3-A above it. Instead of feeling nervous like before, he was filled with confidence. Saru pushed it open to see the class was only filled with about 15 students. Scanning the students, he found Raven and ran up to her in happiness.

"Raven! You made it!" Saru exclaimed in happiness.

With a smile Raven said, "I see you passed too! That's great."

"I know." Saru smiled and then replied nervously, "Ma-maybe we c-ca-can be p-put on the sa-same team."

"It's very unlikely, there are going to be 5 teams," Raven replies, matter-a-fact, but after seeing the dejected look on Saru's face, she adds, "but I'd really like to be your teammate."

At that moment, the door opened to the weapons classroom. Now stripped of all weapons that once hung up on the wall. Striding up to the center chalkboard, Kira cleared her throat and said. "Now then, as most of you know, you will be put into teams of three and have a jonin be put in charge of each team. I will now announce the teams."

_Please be with Raven. Please be with Raven,_ Saru thought intently.

"First off, Team 12. It will consist of Inoi Yamanaka, Cho Akimichi, Shikaru Nara, and your jonin in charge will be me, Kira Sarutobi. You will report to your me at Training ground 7 at 7:00 am."

"Hahahahaha. That sucks for you guys. You have to endure Kira sensei for much longer now," Saru laughs out hysterically.

Inoi turned around and shot him a glare that made his blood freeze.

Gentatsu didn't know how a blonde twelve year-old could instill more fear in him than any jonin could with a single look. _It's ridiculous_, Saru exclaimed internally.

"Moving on," Kira said coolly. "Team 13 will consist of Raven Uchiha-"

_This is my moment,_ Saru thought desperately. _Come on. Come on._

"Saru Uzumaki-"

_Yeeeeeeesssssssss_, Saru screamed inside his head. He would have screamed out loud, but he didn't want Raven to know about his crush yet.

"and Senri Tooa. Your jonin in charge will be Roku Haruno. You will report to Training ground 5 at 7:00 am."

As Saru tried to sleep that night he couldn't stop thinking about the next day. He couldn't wait till he met his new sensei and proved himself. Then there was Raven and him. He had a crush on her since he first laid eyes on her. Now that they were going to be put on the same team, he could finally bond with her how he wanted. As Saru was falling asleep that night, he had one final thought. _I can't wait for tomorrow._

Roku's Perspective

The first thing he heard that morning his alarm clock going off inside his single-room apartment. He slammed his hand down on it, shutting it off. _Time to face a new day I guess. _He opened his eyes with a yawn. Roku got up out of bed to see his apartment. It was a small apartment. The ceiling was 8 feet high, and the room about 12 feet in width and length. The only furniture in the room was a dresser, a table, and his bed. Clothes were thrown everywhere. His trash from dinner was still on the table. _Messy as usual_, he thought tiredly._ I really should get a maid_.

He stumbled over to his dresser on the far side of the room to get his outfit. After about a minute of digging he found it. His outfit comprised the general black suit that most jonin wore. He had a black chunin vest instead of the usual green ones, and lastly the was his white forearm protector he kept on his left arm.

Roku walked over to the mirror and looked in it to find his bright yellow eyes staring back at him. His light red hair always made the stand out. Especially against his peachy skin._ I can't seem to remember what I am supposed to be doing today, _he pondered. _It had something to do with kids. Oh well. Probably nothing._

He quickly brushed his teeth and set out into the village to the Hokage's mansion to speak with the Hokage. He always loved the leaf village. It was his favorite of all the hidden villages. He had originally grown up in the Hidden Stone village, but moved to the Konoha after he visited when he was kid. Now he was proud to serve the village and go out on missions. _Maybe I can get a genin team_.

Freezing in his tracks, he face-palmed himself. _Oh crap! That's what I was supposed to do, _he mentally cursed himself. Taking off in the opposite direction, he headed toward Training Ground 5 where he was supposed to meet his new students. While jumping across rooftops, he thought, _I seriously need to get a new memory. For two weeks I looked forward to getting a team and then when I do, I forget._ Sheepishly he thought, _I guess I have to see if they can actually pass my test first before we become a team._

Arriving there he found to his dismay that no one was there yet. _What? I thought for sure I was late._ Checking his watch he face palmed again. _It's only 6:15. Dang it. I forgot I set my alarm for six instead of my usual seven in my anticipation. Now I have to wait 45 minutes for them to get here._ He closed his eyes and leaned up against closest tree for the wait.

45 minutes later

He opened his eyes and to his dismay didn't see anybody. Quizzically he thought, _where could they be?_ He leapt up to the top of the tree gazing out. He saw three kids walking his way. _There they are,_ he thought in triumph. He hopped back down noiselessly and waited till they got there.

As they approached, he saw the blonde boy in black and white being very loud as he talked on about how strong he was. The brown haired one was dressed up in a brown nature getup and was staring up at the birds in the sky. The girl in purple was looking at the blonde one and listening to him drone on.

"Come over here," Roku shouted to them. They turned his way to see him leaning up against the tree.

While they all walked over, Saru called, "Who are you? And what's up with those weird hair and eyes."

Seeing red for a second he exclaimed, "My hair and eyes are not weird. They're perfectly ordinary." Getting his temper under control he spoke in a more positive tone. "As for the first question, I am your new sensei." Whispering under his breath, "Maybe."

"What was that Roku sensei? I didn't catch that last part," Raven asked politely.

"Nothing, nothing. Now, we have to get to know one another better. So I want us all to say are names, dreams, likes, dislikes, and hobbies. That sorta thing. Who wants to go first?"

Saru's hand shot up in the air faster than a rocket. "I do. I do," he said excitedly. Roku motioned for him to go ahead. "My name is Saru Uzumaki. My dream is to become the strongest ninja there ever was, and marry the prettiest ninja."

Sending a small glance at Raven, he blushed. _Oh great. Now I have to deal with teenage drama, _Roku thought tiredly.

"I like monkeys, food, and training. I dislike vegetables, clowns, and written tests. Roku choked back a laugh at that one. "As for my hobbies… Just training I guess."

"Very good," Roku says back in a professional manner. "Next you," he gestures at Raven.

"Ok. My name is Raven Uchiha."

_An Uchiha. Sweet,_ Roku thought with glee, _I got lucky with this bunch._

"My dream is to become a strong ninja and have a family. I like flowers, sand, the color purple, and intelligence tests. I don't really dislike anything. For my hobby, it would have to be studying."

"Ok that's pretty good. And lastly you," He pointed at Senri.

Senri just stood there shaking his head.

"You don't feel like saying anything."

He continued shaking his head.

Saru suddenly said, "How about you Roku sensei?"

"Good idea Saru. I'll join in. My Name is Roku Haruno. I've achieved my dream already. I like running, fighting, and I guess just training in general. I dislike my own bad memory. As for hobbies, I don't have anything special."

"Hey! You never actually told us you dream," Saru barked out accusingly.

"Oh yeah that's right. My dream was to be the fastest ninja in history."

Saru's eyes went wide while Raven asked, "How fast are you?"

Roku replied with a sly grin, "You'll have to find out."

"Ok then. On to business you guys. I'm sorry to say this, but you all will have to take another test. A one-on-one battle."

Saru started to protest, but then heard the word battle. "I guess it'll be fine. At least I get to show off my skills a bit."

"Here is the part your not going to like. If I don't deem you worthy. You will be sent back to the academy immediately." Roku issues this last statement as a threat.

"No fair!" Saru and Raven cried.

Vigorously, Saru said, "I was finally supposed to be done with that stupid academy!"

"Yeah," Raven said in agreement. "We earned our place here."

Roku smiled. "Then I guess your going to have to prove that to me. Since it wouldn't be fair to fight you as a full jonin, I will only be using 5% of my power. Ok." Walking over to the middle of the field he called, "First up will be Raven."

Suddenly calm, she walked over and called back, "Fine."

He closed his eyes and took a moment to address his surroundings. He picked the training ground perfectly. It was a big open space with a single large tree. Perfect for one on one battles. Covering the ground was a fine layer of dirt with hard packed earth underneath. _Just in case they surprise me with earth jutsu,_ he thought pleasantly. The smell of pine washed over him as the wind picked up. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and called with as much a sensei like voice as he could muster, "Begin."

She didn't dash forward like he was expecting. _Fine then,_ he thought confidently. _I'll kick start this battle by testing her with some Ninjutsu._

He leapt back into the air 20 feet up and called, "Fire Style: Fire Ball jutsu." The giant burning orb left his mouth and sailed directly toward Raven. She dove out of the way at the last second, throwing shuriken at him same time. He managed to twist and dodge them by a hair. They were so close he felt them whizzing by his ears. Landing, he ran to the side preparing his next jutsu. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu," he shouted as he made his way behind her. Raven tried to jump away in time but ended up getting nicked by one on the leg.

"Ahh," She screamed out in pain, as she put the fire out.

_Maybe I over did it a little bit,_ Roku thought regretfully. Snapping back to a instructor's mindset he thought, _Now Taijutsu._

Raven threw herself at him with kunai in hand. While dodging her attempts at thrust and swipes, he thought, _this is pathetic. I thought she was a member of the Uchiha clan. I guess I made her out to be better than she was._ While dodging another thrust that sailed past him, he brought his knee up into her gut and heard a satisfying, "Umph."

He stepped back a bit as Raven got to her feet. "I'm not done," she struggled to get out.

"I would have been disappointed if you were," he replied.

Then a voice called out, "You can do it Raven! Give it your best!"

Raven smiled as Saru cheered her on. She then put on a determined look on her face and said, "That's right. I've worked too hard to go back to the ninja academy now." Suddenly her purple eyes shifted to red ones.

Looking closely he saw that she had two tomoes already. Whistling in appreciation he said, "Very well done." _Maybe there is hope for her. She can already activate her Sharingan with two tomoes._

He dashed toward her leaping up to perform a spinning back kick. She ducked down just in time to avoid it and at the same time thrust her kunai up at him. He substituted with a branch from the tree just in time. _Not bad. Not bad. It's impressive to dodge my kick with no warning._

Then he tried to look at her, but found he couldn't. When he finally saw it he turned his head to the side in confusion. The area around her was as clear as day, but whenever he tried to focus on her directly he found he couldn't.

"Hahahahahahaha," He let out in a burst of laughter. He visibly relaxed. "So that's how you dodged my kick. When did you activate your Genjutsu?

"Right when I activated my Sharingan," Raven replied stricken that he figured it out.

"Games over," he called out while making the correct handsign. "Release."

Reality turned back to normal and he could focus on Raven again. He quickly charged forward and threw left hook at her side. She stepped closer to him to avoid. _Bad move,_ he thought. _My right hand is still free._

He pulled his left arm back and twisted his hips to perform his right uppercut. His hit nailed her square in the jaw and she was sent flying. Raven hit against the tree with a loud thud and fell down on the ground face first.

"Oh no," He heard Saru call out as he frantically rushed over to her.

_I guess he's checking on her to make sure I didn't kill her._

"Don't worry. She only be out for an hour or so. Then she'll be good as new," Roku tries to say this last part reassuringly. It did not turn out with the desired affects.

"You better be ready to pay for what you did to Raven," He spat out. Saru got onto a wide spread stance and pulled out a small pole on his back.

_It's only about a foot long. What kind of damage can he do to me with that?_

He got his answer a second later when the pole suddenly extended out till it was 6 feet.

Back with the cocky smile, Saru answered Roku's unasked question, "It is a special weapon I developed myself. If I put my chakra into it a certain way it can shrink and grow anywhere between 1 to 6 feet."

"That is pretty interesting," Roku says matter-a-fact. "Now lets see how good you are with it."

Roku dashed forward and acted like he was going to throw a punch when he changed his center of gravity and slid under Saru, trying to kick him in the chest. Saru however had a different plan. He hopped to the side and swept his staff at feet level hoping to catch Roku in the jaw.

Roku saw this, flipped over onto his back, and performed a half push up half jump to avoid it. He landed on his feet and did a couple back flips to get some space. He skidded a few feet and came to a stop. Stepping up his speed, he appeared before Saru in a flash throwing a right punch. Saru dodged the punch by centimeters and lashed out. Roku wasn't expecting that. He caught the full force of the blow as the staff snapped his face to the side. He felt blood start to gather in his mouth where his cheek was cut. He spat it out a little distance away from where he was standing and wiped his mouth. _I gotta say you impressed me kid_. _Your Taijutsu is pretty superb. Now lets see how you fight from a distance._

He disappeared from Saru's sight once more and reappeared 20 yards behind him.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu."

Saru snapped his head around at Roku. "Time to show off all my secret training," he yelled. Wielding his staff, he jumped up in the air swinging it in a downward arc yelling, "Wind Style: Wind Scythe jutsu.

_Bad move kid,_ Roku thought with a smile. _The wind only makes them stronger._

And they did just that. Seeing them all grow twice their original size, Saru realized his mistake. He moved his staff above his head and started spinning it rapidly. As soon as the mini fireballs hit the staff they seemed to disperse. Genius, Roku thought astonished. _He used wind chakra on his staff and sucked the oxygen out of the flames._

"It's time to end this."

Something in Roku's voice made Saru take a step back and prepare himself. Roku relaxed some of his muscles. _Time to take it up a notch._

As he took a step forward the world slowed down. He noticed everything in slow motion. The dust he kicked up hung in midair with no sign of descending. The birds in the air seemed to pause in midair. _The fight always gets boring when I get like this._

The next thing Saru knew was that he was lying on the ground. Roku watched him struggling to get up. With a final hit to the back of the head, the boy blacked out and slumped to the ground.

Roku picked Saru up and carried him next to Raven. Then resuming back to his original place he beckoned Senri over. Senri walked over to the place where Saru formally lay. Roku was interested this boy most of all.

"Begin," Roku called out. Senri's expression of serenity that he had until now changed. With shock clearly on his face, he watched Senri's eyes become as bloodthirsty as a wild animal.

"Raaaaahhhhhhhh," Senri answered with a bloodcurdling roared. He charged at Roku with blinding speed, slashing through his shirt and some of his chest. Roku picked up his speed when he realized what a monster he was up against.

_This kid is easily as strong as a chunin with physical ability alone, _Roku thought in surprise. _What did he cut me with?_ Looking at his arm for a weapon, he found it. He saw that Senri's right arm was suddenly changed into that of a bear's arm. The claws of the brown arm was dripping with blood of the man he just cut.

He tried jumping up in the air and dropping down with a axe kick. Senri easily blocked it with his bear arm and threw him off like he was nothing. _It must be bear mimicry. That one is a particular hard beast mastery to perform too. _

Senri charged him sending a wave of killing intent Roku's way. Roku took a step back on how strong the killing intent was. _I've only experienced this facing off against enemy jonin, _he exclaimed.

Roku leaped out of the way just as Senri charged past. He stopped and turned around. Then unexpectedly he shrunk to his knees clutching his head. "Aaaahhhhhh," he cried out in pain.

_I think he's trying to get control,_ Roku thought bewildered.

Almost as soon as the pain started, it ended. Senri stopped clutching his head and looked up once more. That wild look was back in his eyes. Roku saw an enormous amount of chakra gathering in the boy's feet and arm. _He's going for one last attack,_ Roku thought suddenly.

Senri ran forward with claws extended looking to kill. Roku disappeared in a black flash just as Senri's hand was inches from piercing his heart. As Roku reappeared behind Senri. He fell to the ground. _Chakra Exhaustion got him at the end I guess_, Roku thought tiredly. _If that was any other jonin then they would probably have been impaled by that last attack._

Looking over the three unconscious ninja Roku had one thought. _This is going to be a one really strange team._

**Hope you liked it. Please review with any constructive criticism you have. Tell me how I did on the fight scenes, it was the most I was unsure of.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Familiar Faces**

**Introductions Arc**

Saru's Perspective

_Flashback _

_It was 5 years ago, in Saru's house, when the incident occurred. He was 7 years old at the time. Growing up, he had always looked up to his eldest brother Kai Uzumaki. Kai was 17 at the time. He had the standard blonde hair of all Uzumaki's and eyes glowing like the sea. He was dressed in the standard Konoha outfit that most wore with a green chunin vest. The only alteration was that he carried a very large blade on his back, in a holder. It was easily as big as Kai's body and just as heavy._

_ That night started like any other, with Saru running around driving his middle-aged mom crazy. Kai was running late because of a mission. _

_Saru just got finished cleaning the walls from where the damage of his last mess was. Kai walked in the door with a big grin in his face. "I'm home," he called out. _

_ He looked over the living room. It was a decent size, with enough room to house four or five children. This meant whenever him and Saru started rough housing there was plenty of room to do it. He smiled at the memory of his mom grounding him for a week because it._

_The walls were red as an apple, with dark oak floors. They had carpet when they first bought the house, but him and Saru made too many stains the first couple years._

_Only a few pieces of furniture decorated the room. There was a brown sofa at the opposite wall of the door with a coffee table in between it. The walls were covered with paintings, 12 to be exact, each of the paintings representing a different Hokage. His favorite was the painting of the sixth Hokage, which hung over the door. It was of his great-great-great-grandfather, Naruto Uzumaki._

_Saru ran into the room through a door on the side, energetically yelling "Big brother! You're home!" he immediately ran up and jumped on Kai, the way a small monkey would._

_At that moment, the blonde siblings' mother walked into the room. "There you are, Kai. I swear your missions are getting longer and longer each time you go on one. Come into the kitchen."_

"_Yeah," Saru chimed in, while walking through the door he just entered. "You're supposed to be here with me helping me with my ninja training," he complained._

_As Saru began pouting, Kai quickly followed him and said reassuringly, "Well hold on now. Before we get to any training, I have some news to tell you guys. "_

"_Can't it wait till after dinner?" Kai's mother grumbled as she began to set the table._

_Without bothering to contain his grin, he said, "Actually, it can't."_

_Stopping what she was doing, she sat down and tucked her long brown hair behind her ear to get it out of the way. She sat him and Saru down, and looked at him with her a soft gaze. "So what is it that can't wait till later?"_

_Grinning wider, he told them his good news. "I just got an S ranked mission."_

"_That's so awesome!" Saru yelled._

_ "Congratulations," Kai's mom said with warm smile, before switching to a frown. "Does this mean you're leaving again?"_

_ Kai's grin faltered. "Yeah." But before his mom could get onto him he added, "but the Hokage said I would only be gone a week or so, so it's no big deal."_

_Saru was horror-stricken. "Noooooooooo! You said that when you got back from your last mission we would train together."_

"_I know, I know, but I can't blow this off. It was given to me directly by the Hokage, himself." Kai glanced at his watch. "Speaking of which, I have to go now." As he began striding toward the door, he stated regretfully, "I was only here to tell you guys that I was leaving." He opened the front door and was about to take a step out the door when Saru hugged his leg from behind, stopping him from moving._

"_You're not leaving without training me!" Saru said fiercely, tears starting to form in his eyes out of anger._

"_I'll tell you what," Kai said as he coaxed Saru off his leg. "When I get back, I'll take a week off so we can be together, but until that moment you have to train with this in mind. I will become the worlds strongest shinobi."_

_And with that, he took his leave. I never saw him again. Nobody did. He was presumed dead after that. I never forgot those last words to me._

_End of Flashback_

Saru sat up, his heart thundering in his chest. Plopping back down he thought, _I had that dream again. I need to let it go already._ Shaking it off, like a dog would shake off water, he looked around at his surroundings. There was a big empty field except for what seemed the one tree he was under. _Oh,_ Saru thought with realization. _I'm still at the training ground._ Suddenly frantic, _wait did I pass the test. Where is everybody?_

As if in cue, Roku called out a little farther down the field, "Hey Saru. We're over here!

Saru jumped up to his feet and ran over to his team, which was standing in a semi circle. "What happened to us?" Saru asked when he stood next to Senri and Raven facing Roku.

Roku grinned. "To put it simply, you all got your butts handed to you!" he burst out in laughter.

Saru fell to his knees, suddenly distraught. "I can't believe I got beaten so easily."

Raven crouched down next to him, rubbing his shoulder, and then comfortingly said, "It's ok, I got beat too. I didn't even get to see you two fight him."

Saru snapped his head up. "That's right!" he exclaims. "I didn't get to see Senri's abilities either." He set his face in a stubborn mask and said, "I want a redo."

Roku finally spoke up. "I don't think your going to want a redo, Saru."

"Why's that Roku sensei?" Raven asked curiously.

"Because," he said excitedly. "I am now going congratulate you all on passing and tell you how proud I'm going to be to have you as my students," he ended with a big smile.

"Yes!" Saru and Raven cheered, as Senri looked pleased.

"Now we can learn all kinds of cool jutsu," Saru began excitedly. "We can go on all kinds of missions, then we will be able to-"

"Hold on, hold on," Roku called over Saru, back in teacher mode. "You guys still have a lot of work to do. I'm going to go over some exercises with you, so you can get stronger on your free time. Now, before we begin," he turned to Senri. "You're going to be training with Kira sensei. She's going to help you with your ah," Roku scrambled for words. "Little problem." Senri nodded and proceeded to turn away when Roku said, "I've already sent word ahead to her, so you'll just have to seek her out now." Another nod from Senri and he dashed off disappearing into the trees.

"What a minute," Saru called loudly. "Why is Senri getting different training than us?"

"Well, to put it simply, Senri has a special technique that is hard to control. Kira is a Genjutsu expert, so she is a perfect model of control."

Saru still had a questioning look on his face when Raven asked, "May I also go to Kira sensei? I want to get better at Genjutsu too."

Roku pondered this for a minute and replied reluctantly, "I guess that would be fine, if you really want to focus on Genjutsu." Raven replied by nodding vigorously. "Ok then, you can train with Kira sensei as well."

As soon as Raven left Saru started snickering. "What are you laughing?" Roku asked slightly deflated.

"Oh nothing," Saru said mischievously. _Except that the new squad you just got is abandoning you._

Wearily Roku said, "Moving right along. We will be doing one on one training since there is no one else." Another snicker from Saru is heard. Ignoring this, Roku pressed on, "Your Taijutsu is already above par, so we will work on your Ninjutsu."

"But I already have my Wind Scythe jutsu. Isn't that good enough?" Saru complained.

"Saru," Roku stated seriously. "You'll never become the best by settling on what you currently have. You should always strive to get stronger." Then, with a evil glint in his yellow eyes, he rubbed his hands and said, "Now lets see what we can do to improve that jutsu of yours."

2 Months Later

Team 13 was just getting back from yet another D rank mission when they arrived at the front gate. The front gate was at least 100 feet high, and was the most fortified structure in Konoha after the Hokage's residence. It was a bright red and had giant solid doors that swung open. The only time the doors closed was during a invasion.

"Sensei," Saru whined. "When are we going on a more challenging mission?"

Before Roku could say anything, Raven chimed in, "I think it's fine that we're only doing D ranked missions. After all we are still genin fresh out of the academy."

Roku smiled at his only female student. "Right you are Raven," he said approvingly. "Being new genin, you will only get to partake on D ranked missions. Once you are promoted to chunin, then you'll move on the more challenging stuff like C and B ranked missions.

"But sensei," Saru said still complaining. "I want to fight strong ninjas, so I can get stronger."

"Is that so," Roku mused. "I'll tell you what. I was going to save this for later, but I'll get it bumped up to now instead, so that it can satisfy your desire for action. Tomorrow you guys will be pitted against another genin team from Konoha. The only other team to pass from your guy's year in fact.

"Oh no," Saru groaned. "Not them! Please just don't make it them!"

"That's right Saru," Roku said while grinning wickedly. "You're going to be facing Ino-Shika-Cho. The most promising team to come of the academy in 20 years. You will be having one on one matches against one another to practice your techniques and to gather ex-"

"As long as I don't have to face Inoi," Saru interrupted, his voice dripping with fear. "She is one scary woman."

"Saru!" Roku warned. "Don't interrupt me again while I'm tell you something important."

"Yes Roku sensei!" Saru replied like a train dog.

"As I was saying," Roku continued. "The purpose of this exercise is for you all gaining more battle experience. You will be meeting at Training Ground 3 at 8:00 am. Moving onto who will be battling whom, I'm giving you each a number. When you meet up tomorrow, you will ask their squad which one has what number. When your numbers are matched up, that is who will be facing each other." Taking on a polite tone, "Any questions?" Raven and Saru's hands shot in the air. "None, good. Senri, your number is 1, Saru your number is 2, Raven your number is 3, and with that you are dismissed."

With Roku taking a step backward, he suddenly vanished. After a second, a dust cloud swirled up where he was standing. "Uh *cough* I hate *cough* when he does that," Saru choked out.

Raven did the smart thing and waited for the dust to settle before speaking. "At least we can see how our training has paid off."

"I guess," Saru grumbled once again, then beaming. "If do beat that mean old hag, then I can rub it in her face for a good long time! Mwhahahahaha!" cackling near the end. He quickly took off toward the direction of his house to prepare.

Raven sighed. She was never going to get used to Saru. She looked at Senri warmly and said, "I'm going home to prepare too. I suggest you do the same." And waving to her other comrade she set off toward the Uchiha compound.

Senri watched her leave before he took on a hunters tread toward the forest where he would stay the night.

The next morning, Team 13 was gathered at Training Ground 3 ready to start their mock battles. Training ground 3 was a small field with forest surrounding either sides, and with a river running along side it. In front of where Raven, Saru, and Senri were standing, at the beginning of the field, were three small tree stumps sticking out of the ground.

"It's been 20 minutes already!" Saru complained loudly. "When are they going to get here?"

On cue, Ino-Shika-Cho came into view calmly walking toward them. Saru looked at them closely. _They sure haven't changed much he thought,_ he thought irritably.

Shikaru Nara had short onyx colored hair, and a very pale skin. His moss colored eyes gazed about uncaringly. The was a big fact known about Shikaru. He was a bit of a pushover. He let other people make his choices for him and didn't stand up for himself that much. He always blended in with the background. As if to match his personality, he wore all black. A black buttoned up shirt, black shorts, and black bandages that covered his legs. Saru noticed that the only thing Shikaru did out of the ordinary was wear his (black) headband around his right leg.

Cho Akimichi was a whole another story entirely. He was fat, like most other Akimichis, but he was proud of it. He always looked at his fat as his strength instead of a weakness. He was confident, but not cocky. Another thing, instead of being happy going like most other kids, Cho has always been a serious fellow. He always dutifully trained instead of played. He had on a all red outfit except for the silver-plating, that covered his vitals spots, to protect him against standard weapons. Cho had dark red hair and black eyes to match his outfit.

Worst of all was Inoi Yamanaka. She was a good ninja, but she had to be the cruelest person alive. Inoi always used to torture anyone she could get her hands on back at the academy. The perfect word for her would be sadistic. In all sense of the word. Inoi looked harmless enough, but if you crossed her then she would make you regret it dearly. Today she had on what she usually wore. A green hoodie and dark green shorts with fishnet leggings. Her blonde hair went down to the small of her back except for her bangs that covered the left side of her face. She was fair skinned and had icy blue eyes that represented her coldness rather well.

They were now about a couple yards in front of Team 13, when they stopped. Inoi glared at Saru coldly. I response he set a wide grin on his face to hide how uncomfortable he was. "So how are we going to get this started?" Saru asked nervously.

Cho spoke up bluntly. "I got number 1, so I'm up first." With that he stomped over to one side of the field and waited.

"On our side," Raven responded. "Senri also got 1."

Senri walked over to the other end hearing this. Everybody noticed with eeriness that Senri made no noise as he walked.

As Senri got into position he heard Raven call out cheerfully, "All right everybody, this is supposed to be mock battles to help build experience. We should all take this as a way to see what we need to improve. With that being said, I want us all to enjoy our selves." Inoi rolled her eyes. "The first battle will be Senri vs Cho. Begin!

Senri's Perspective

He breathed in the smell of nature. It was a comfortable smell that he was familiar with. Nature was the only comfort that he had after that monstrous night. After that night he swore to become a ninja so he could protect people from the harm of this world. Unfortunately, Amurui had other plans. Whenever he tried to fight someone, Amurui threatened to take over. Thanks to Kira sensei, he was now able to use his chakra without Amurui taking over. Kira sensei placed a seal on his body that helped him suppress Amurui. _But sometimes it's not enough,_ Senri thought regretfully.

"The first battle will be Senri vs Cho. Begin!" With that, Senri snapped out of his daze and dashed forward at the fat genin swinging his changing right arm into that of a bear arm. He brought it down like a lumberjack only to have it caught by Cho. Cho sent a palm strike straight at Senri before he could react. _I'll just take it and keep attacking,_ Senri thought confidently. As the strike made contact, Senri found himself being flung through the air by Cho's massive strength. Senri crashed through a tree and fell to the ground. Picking himself up he clutched his chest and thought panicked, _what the hell was that? It felt like a giant clubbed me in the chest! _Senri picked himself and shrugged off the pain in his chest. He looked only to find that his opponent hadn't moved an inch. Cho got into a sumo like stance, with his leg far apart and one arm forward, with his palm facing the direction Senri flew.

_Grrrrr_, Amurui mentally growled. As soon as he heard the growling, a searing pain started in his temple. Senri grabbed his head with his free left hand. The pain shooting through his temple indicated Amurui was attempting to take over again. Senri poured some chakra into the seal on his left shoulder and felt Amurui slipping away like water slipped down a stream. He let out breath he didn't know he was holding. _Time to try again,_ he thought determined to land a hit on Cho.

He surged forward, over the now broken tree, to where Cho was patiently waiting in his stance. Taking his right arm, he held it low to the ground as he ran forward. He swung it up at the left side of Cho's chest in a wide arc, but Cho expected it and grabbed his arm. He pulled Senri forward and tried another palm thrust. Senri in turn deflected it with his left hand and brought his knee into Cho's chest. Instead of smashing into his chest like Senri thought it would, it simply pushed in a fraction and bounced off. Senri quickly jumped back to avoid a counter attack from Cho.

Senri did a quick mental assessment of the boy. _He seems to have a strength superior to my own, even with the support of the bear mimicry on my right arm. His defense is formidable as well. My knee practically bounced off his chest. I'll have to resort to using a sneak attack. _

Coming up with a quick plan he extended his arm, palm up, and moved his fingers back and forth as if to say, come and get me.

Cho obliged by making a unique hand sign and yelling, "Expansion jutsu!" With that, Senri's eyebrow shot up as the boy blew up like a giant balloon until he was a sphere. Next, Cho shouted, "Human Boulder!" The, now giant, boy started spinning in place until all of his features and clothes started blurring together. He rolled at Senri at blinding speed as Senri hurtled to the side to avoid getting flattened. Senri then smiled. He took the bait.

Cho, who just made his way into the forest, crashed through tree after tree, trying to turn around. Senri made his way after him, blending in with the shadows of the forest. Senri tracked the boy easily through the path of destruction Cho's technique caused. When Senri finally caught up, he saw Cho back to his normal size. _Must be so he can get his bearings, Senri_ thought absentmindedly. As Senri silently landed on a branch, he looked down as Cho calmly made his way back into his sumo stance. He started circling Cho when it started again.

_Grrrrr, _Amurui growled in his head, making him feel like it was splitting open.

_Not now_, Senri thought while clutching his head in agony. He tried to pour more chakra into the seal, but it was too late as the pain finally enveloped him. "Raaaaaahhhhhh," he bloodthirstily roared. Jumping down from his, once stealthy, perch, he charged at Cho like a crazed animal. Cho frantically dodged and deflected as Senri's claws swung out wildly. Just as soon as Cho adjusted to his sudden attack, he tripped on a tree root sticking out of the ground and toppled backwards.

Senri came down on Cho in a frenzy of swinging claws. Under the relentless attack Cho screamed, "Expansion jutsu!" Senri was flung off of Cho as he instantly expanded. Smashing into a rock, Amurui lost control for a moment. Senri quickly capitalized on this by pouring almost all his chakra reserves into the seal. With that, Amurui and the pain finally subsided from his mind.

Senri stood up and clutched his head from the new wound he received against hitting the rock. Cho returned to his normal size and glared at Senri. "I'm through playing," Cho stated as he ran up to Senri. Cho skidded to a halt 5 yards from Senri. "Partial Expansion jutsu," Cho said seriously. Senri watched as Cho raised his right arm in front of him. Without warning it grew until it was close to the size of a giant's arm. He thrust it at Senri with all his might.

As the giant palm strike approached Senri, he thought exhausted; _I don't have enough strength to move anything after dealing with Amurui._ The final strike of the match connected and Senri smiled to himself thinking before blacking out, _I'll be waiting for our rematch… Cho Akimichi._

Saru's Perspective

Saru just about had enough of all the waiting, when he heard a sound. Crack! _This is weird._ Saru thought concentrating, and then realized what it was. _It sounds like they are breaking more trees._ Crack! Crack! Crack! _What could have broken through that many trees,_ Saru thought questioningly?

To answer Saru's unasked question there was a final Crack, and the tree near them snapped in half as Senri was sent hurtling across the field.

"Senri!" Raven and Saru yelled urgently. They ran across toward their now unconscious comrade. Raven shook him, attempting to wake him, to no avail.

"What happened?" Raven asked angrily.

Cho was now emerging from where Senri flew moments before. "He lost," he said simply.

As Saru saw Cho, he noticed how warn out he was. There was claw marks all over his face and body. Not only that, but it looked like Cho walked over to his team a bit deflated from the battle. _It must have been a difficult fight,_ Saru thought astonished. _I hope mine's the same._

"What took you so long?" Inoi asked disgusted at how long her teammate took.

"It was a difficult fight," Cho put bluntly.

"Hey!" Saru yelled happily across the clearing. "Whoever's got 2 bring it on! I'm going to avenge Senri's loss!" Saru made his way to one end of the field, leaving Raven to take care of Senri's injuries.

"It's your unlucky day," Inoi said coldly. She sauntered over to the other end of the field smugly.

When they were both in position Shikaru called out, "The second match will be between Inoi and Saru. May the match-"

Saru thought one last thing as a shiver rose up his spine from facing Inoi. _Crap!_

"Begin!"

Saru took his staff from the back of his waist and extended it to it's length of six feet. He jammed it into the ground next to him and said, "I'll let you make the first move."

Inoi smirked and icily said, "You're going to regret that very quickly." She extended her arms out in front of her making a rectangle with her fingers. "Mind Transfer jutsu!" she shouted.

Saru prepared to dodge whatever was coming his way but stopped_. I don't see anything. I guess it misfired._ Just as he was about to say so, he felt a invisible object hit him on the head. Inoi slumped to the ground as Saru felt the intrusion. He closed his eyes and entered his jungle room where Son Goku existed.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in the clearing in the jungle in front of Son. Son glared down from where he sat and said sarcastically, _**"Are we just letting anyone in here now?"**_

"So that's what you've been hiding," A voice called from behind Saru, seemingly unfazed by the great beast standing before them.

Saru spun around to see Inoi looking up at Son uncaringly. "I guess you know now," Saru said regretfully. He took out his staff and extended it, yet again, and held it out in front of him pointed at Inoi. "Sorry for the surprise, but I want to move onto our fight now," he said hurriedly.

"As you wish," she said menacingly. She ran forward and ducked under the swipe of his staff. She quickly kneed Saru in the ribs causing him to gasp in pain, and did a spinning jump kick to the side of his head sending him sprawling a few feet.

"_**Don't you dare lose this fight,"**_ Son grumbled. _**"You know how weak that's going to make me look."**_

"I know, I know," Saru assured. "I'm not going to lose." Truthfully, I don't know if I'll win. She's not very strong but she's fast. I'm going to have to stay on my toes. He got up and used his staff to pole vault up in the air. Saru then did a front flip and tried slam his staff down on Inoi.

She side stepped it and launched herself back yelling, "Fire Style: Fire Ball jutsu!" He spun his staff in front of him using his wind chakra in the staff to expel the fireball by pushing it out to the sides. It came so close he felt the heat rush by his face.

Saru slashed out with his staff yelling, "Wind Scythe jutsu!" Inoi simply hid behind one of the many trees while the razor sharp wind cut up the bark. She ran out at him and threw a dozen shuriken. Saru quickly deflected the shuriken and thrust his staff forward expecting it to catch her in the gut. What he did not expect was for her to jump on it and run up to him at lightning speed kicking him in the chin while performing a acrobatic back flip. He quickly shook off the pain in his chin and charged at her with his staff at the ready.

He thrust it at her again and again, but she kept side stepping it easily. "Is that all you can do?" Inoi asked unimpressed.

"No!" Saru said while speeding up with his attacks. Inoi finally back flipped a couple of times to avoid Saru's flurry of jabs.

Standing there with her hands on her hips she said as if it was obvious, "It was a rhetorical question, idiot."

"_**Are you through playing around, or are you going to give me some real entertainment?"**_ Son huffed.

"Fine, fine. If that's what you want," Saru replied. He took off into the surrounding jungle beckoning Inoi to follow him. _I've been in this jungle hundreds of times when I was little. I have the advantage, _he thought confidently. Saru noticed Inoi following him quickly but at a distance. _She must be trying not to lose me in the jungle. I gotta make sure she doesn't get what she wants._ With a smirk, Saru increased his speed and started going through a variety of twist and turns until he was sure he lost her. He came across Inoi standing in a patch of darkness listening for any signs of movement. He jumped down from the branch he was standing on and swung his staff at her head. It connected and felt like a solid blow.

_That was surprisingly easy,_ Saru mentally commented.

"_**Don't let your guard down boy,"**_ Son's voice carried over the jungle. With that, Inoi puffed away in a cloud of smoke.

_A shadow clone_, he thought surprised. She must have made them to spread out and search for me. _I better get lost again before she finds me. _"Thanks Son," Saru said in appreciation. Then smacking his hand over his mouth he thought, _crap. I was supposed to stay silent._

"Phoenix Flower jutsu!" Inoi's voice rang out in the silence. Saru launched himself to the side as a mini fireball slammed down where he previously stood. He continued weaving in and out of branches, much like a monkey would, to avoid the small fireballs.

When they finally stopped he heard, "I've grown tired of this. If you want to stay in the jungle, then you can burn with it. Fire Style: Searing Migraine!" All of a sudden an inferno erupted. The whole ground was covered in fire. It quickly raced up the trees, burning all in it's path. Saru raced to get away from it as it spread faster. He burst through the clearing to find Inoi waiting patiently for him. "Took you long enough," she said coldly.

"_**You little brat!"**_ Son yelled out. _**"How dare you burn my jungle!" **_With a great sweep of his tail there was a gust of wind so strong it threatened to lift Saru off his feet. As the wind swept over the jungle it extinguished the flames to leave black and brittle trees behind. Huffing he said, _**"I'll let this one go because the trees will go back to normal after a little bit. Mess up my jungle one more time and both of you are out of here."**_ He issued the last bit as a threat.

"I guess we keep going then?" Saru asked Inoi.

"That is, if you can hit me," Inoi taunted. She made a handsign and called out, "Shadow Clone jutsu!" 20 shadow clones ran forward at Saru immediately.

_Oh crap!,_ Saru thought frightened. _I can't handle 20 of her._ Saru steeled himself. _I'm going to have to use the new jutsu I worked on with Roku sensei._ He pulled his staff behind him and pushed a significant amount of wind chakra in it. "Take this!" Saru shouted as he swung his staff toward the charging Inois. "Great Wind Scythe jutsu!"

A great hurricane sprung forth and swept toward the mass charging at him. As soon as it touched them they puffed away as they were destroyed one by one. Unfortunately they weren't the only thing the hurricane destroyed.

Son Goku stood up from where he was previously sitting. _**"Now you've done it!"**_ he shouted in a rage. _**"Look what you did to my jungle!"**_ He pointed at where it should've been.

Saru winced. _I messed up this time,_ he thought despairingly. The jungle was reduced to ash, and there wasn't a tree in site. _I guess when you mix together a burnt up brittle jungle and a thousand invisible blades you get ash falling in the sky._

"_You are both out of here right now!"_ Son yelled. He punched the ground causing it to shatter into millions of pieces. As Saru was falling down into what felt like darkness he quickly released himself out of his mind and back into the real world.

He opened his eyes to find he was back at Training Ground 3, standing across from Inoi who was slumped on the ground. _That was rude,_ Saru mentally scolded.

_**Rude! How about I trash where you live, then we can say who is Rude!**_

_Ok, ok. I get it. I'll leave you alone for a little bit so you can get over it,_ he replied warily. Inoi stood up from where she lay. She glared at Saru with a intensity that made his blood freeze.

"Lets try that again," she said. "Shadow Clone jutsu!" 20 clones popped into existence and ran at Saru. He pulled his staff out of the ground and prepared himself. When they reached him he unleashed a flurry of blows. He dodged, flipped, and jumped while twisting his staff around him hitting clones left and right. Ultimately it was too much and he got pinned under the mass of bodies. The original Inoi leapt up above the pile and shouted, "Fire Style: Searing Migraine!" The inferno came down on the pile burning them all out of existence.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Saru cried out in pain. His back was severely burnt as he laid face down in the dirt. He tried to get up, but the searing pain brought him back down. "You would attack your own clones," Saru choked out through gritted teeth.

"Of course," she said coldly. "They mean nothing if it means taking down my opponent. Cho, take care of him."

"What's he going to do?" Raven asked concerned.

"I'm going to heal him," Cho said now free of his cuts on his body. He walked over to Saru and picked him up gently. He carried him over to a tree and set him down. Cho's chakra shaped itself over his hand and turned green. He then placed it over his back and closed his eyes to focus.

"I guess it's our turn," Shikaru said, while standing up from where he was crouching. He walked over to one side of the field and waited for Raven to do the same.

Shikaru's Perspective

_I have to fight Raven. Dang, this is going to be tough. Everybody says Nara's are famed for their intellect, but even I don't have anything on her. She managed to get a perfect score on every test when we were back at the academy_, he mentally sulked. _I might as well get this over with._

Raven walked over to the other side of the field and said, "Let the third match of Raven vs Shikaru, begin!"

Raven immediately changed her eyes to that of the Sharingan. _I didn't know she unlocked the Sharingan. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought._ He pulled out some shuriken and threw them in her general direction, since he didn't have the best of aim. She dodged to the side easily pulling out kunai and tossing them back at Shikaru.

He jumped to the side calling, "Shadow Possession jutsu!" His shadow stretched to impossible lengths. It went after Raven like a shark after blood. She dodged, twisted, and eventually jumped back until she was out of range. _She is probably going to attack from a distance as to not get near my shadow. All I have to do is dodge it and wait for the sun to rise up and extend my shadow,_ Shikaru thought confidently.

Raven threw dozens of kunai at Shikaru, hoping that one would find its mark. He sidestepped it only to hear a sound by his ear. _What is that,_ he thought in wonder_. It sounds kind of like a fuse. Oh no!_ With that, the paper bombs attached to the kunai exploded by the left side of his face blasting him backwards.

"How come I didn't see the paper bombs attached to the kunai?" he asked Raven.

"The reason is actually pretty simple. You didn't see it because I covered it up with my Genjutsu."

Shikaru was visibly startled_. When did she get me in Genjutsu?_ He thought back to their previous moves in the fight and realized she made the first one. "It happened when you activated your Sharingan right?" he asked for confirmation even though he knew that was it.

"Yep."

"Next time," Shikaru lectured. "You might not want to tell the enemy that they're in Genjutsu, because they'll probably do this." He formed the correct hand sign and called, "Release!"

Not much changed except Raven was still standing where they had started. Inoi suddenly got impatient. "This is taking too long." She walked up to Shikaru stopping just behind him. "Do I need to get involved," she said in a warning tone.

"No, I got it." Something is off with Inoi. She wouldn't interfere unless it was a really good reason. _No! She couldn't have!_

Before he could turn his head a kunai was pressed against his throat. "You lose," Inoi called sweetly.

Shikaru looked in front of him to find Raven disappearing into nothingness. "When did you do it? I broke out of your Genjutsu."

"About that," Inoi/Raven said. "You never broke out of it. The only reason I told you we were in Genjutsu, was so you could try to release it. When you did, I changed the surroundings into what you most likely expected, but still keeping my Genjutsu activated. That way you believed you were no longer in it and would let your guard down. Deception is a ninja's best weapon, after all."

_She came up with a plan immediately and put it into action almost flawlessly. This is going to be one troublesome ninja in the future, _he thought impressed. "Fine, you got me beat. I give up," he replied tiredly.

Saru's Perspective

He was about to congratulate Raven when he suddenly heard clapping noises. " How about I join in on the fun too?" a voice said. Saru recognized that voice. _It can't be_ he thought in disbelief. He snapped his head to the side to look over at where the three tree stumps were. On the middle stump stood a grinning Kai Uzumaki.

**Next chapter will be a reunion between Saru and Kai. How's it going to go down? You will find out next time. Until then, hope you enjoyed. Please review, it would be much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Preparation**

**Introductions Arc**

Kai's Perspective

He stood there grinning ear to ear at them, loving seeing the look on Saru's face. His expression was of utter disbelief. Everyone else held a similar expression, because they had not sensed him appear. He couldn't blame them. Not even experienced jonin could sense him when he didn't want them to. It was part of the training he overtook.

"Well are you all just going to stand there, or are you going to fight me? I mean, I patiently wait for you guys to finish your bouts, so I can have my turn and what do you do? You don't even have they decency to talk to me." He said finishing his rant.

Inoi spoke up first. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I knew one of you could talk, it just took some prodding on my part." He smiled evilly. "As for your question, I am the one and only Kai Uzumaki, and I'm here to kill you all."

Saru finally recovered from his shock. "Big brother. Is that you? Is that you Kai?

Kai sighed sadly. "Yeah, it's me."

Tears began to form in Saru's eyes. "Why didn't you come back? I thought you were dead? I waited for so lo-"

Kai raised his hand to stop Saru. "If you survive this, you'll get all the answers you want." Kai changed back into his energetic albeit creepy self and said, "Like I said before, I am here to kill you all. If you don't want to die, put up a good enough fight. It's as simple as that."

After Kai finished speaking he leapt down from the tree trunk and set his massive sword down. "I won't even use my Executioner's Blade, as a handicap to myself," he said.

Cho called out, "Human Expansion jutsu! Human Boulder!" At once, he started spinning at immense speeds and hurtled at Kai.

"Is that all you got?" Kai replied sarcastically. He extended his and out in front of him and caught Cho. Cho's rolling screeched to a stop. With a malicious grin, he kicked out at Cho sending his massive body flying across the entire field into the lake on the side. _His power was decent_, he mentally mused.

Shikaru spoke up, "We need to capture this guy quick! If he can take out Cho with one kick, then he is too dangerous to fight alone. We all need to fight him at the same time to stand a chance."

"I agree," Raven said.

"Everybody wait!" Saru yelled. "You're not really going to attack my brother are you?"

To answer his question, Shikaru shot out a rain of kunai and paper bombs. Kai made no attempt to dodge. "This is more like it," he called crazily. As all the paper bombs blew up in his face, he turned into water, and sprayed out in all directions. "It's a water clone!" Raven called out authoritatively.

They began looking in all directions when they saw all the water coming back together. "No!" Saru called out desperately. "He's had this technique since he was little. It's called Hydration. He is able to transform any and all parts of his body into water. It makes it so he can't take any physical damage."

_That's right little bro, I'm glad you still remember it. You had a hard enough time battling it when we were kids after all. How are you going to fare now?_ He mentally commented.

"Is that so," Shikaru said carefully. "Good thing it takes some time for him to reform." With that, Shikaru extended his shadow until it connected with Kai's shadow. "It worked! Inoi, you're up."

Inoi nodded. "Mind transfer jutsu!"

_That's not going to work little girl,_ he mentally chided. As soon as Inoi connected, she was forced back out.

"Dang it!" she seethed. "He's got the three tails, I can't touch him."

_**Don't let anybody in like that again without my permission or else I'll stop sharing my chakra with you.**_

_Agreed,_ Kai replied hastily. He didn't like getting on the three tail's bad side. He immediately forced Shikaru's shadow back as well when he reformed.

"That means Inoi's, Shikaru's, and my techniques are cut off. We're going to have use Ninjutsu and Taijutsu against him if we have any chance," Raven called out as instructions.

Shikaru and Raven charged him from his sides. They both threw roundhouse kicks hoping that one would connect. Kai whipped his arm out at incredible speed, catching Shikaru's kick before he threw the boy's body at Raven, knocking her to the side. The force of the collision knocked them both unconscious. _I guess they were the weakest, physically speaking,_ he thought while sighing to himself. _That big guy I knocked out earlier was the strongest I guess._

Inoi shouted, "Fire Style: Fire Ball jutsu!" A massive fireball was flung toward Kai.

Kai grinned and said, "Water Style: Hydro Ball jutsu!" An equally massive water ball rushed toward the fireball and Inoi. It collided with the fireball, completely extinguishing it, and kept going straight at Inoi. Inoi got hit with the full force of the attack and fell to the side. As she started to get up, Kai appeared behind her and hit her on the back of the head, successfully rendering her unconscious.

Now the only one left was Saru. Kai turned to face him. Saru was struggling to get up. The burns on his back were creating a major problem for him. "This is no fun anymore," Kai said disappointed. "You all were pretty weak after your fights. I wouldn't even be worth it to kill you now."

"Kai!" Saru yelled out in anger. "Why did you do it? Why did you hurt all my friends?"

"It was all to get to you. I meant what I said earlier by the way. I will kill you all, but not now. I've changed my mind."

He appeared in front of Saru, smashing his fist into his little brother's face. Saru didn't even have the time to cry out in pain as he was flung onto the ground, struggling to maintain consciousness. Kai bent down and whispered into his ear, "I will return in two weeks. If you are not strong enough by then, you and all your comrades will die."

With that, Saru fell into darkness.

Saru's Perspective

When Saru woke up, the first thing he saw was white. He was staring up at a white ceiling. "Where am I?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"You're finally awake," a voice answered concerned.

Saru sat up and looked around him at the room. He saw white walls, a white ceiling, and a white floor. On the left side of the room, there was a door, and on the right side, a wide window that showed the leaf village. He was lying in a small bed with thin white sheets covering his bottom half. Across from the bed were two blue chairs. Sitting in one of them was Roku.

"Roku sensei… Where am I?" Saru asked groggily.

"You are in the hospital."

"Why am I in the hospital?" he asked urgently. Then, all at once, his memory of the previous day flooded back into his mind. "Never mind… I remember," he said sadly. Saru then remembered everybody else from the fight.

"Everybody else is already out of the hospital," Roku assured Saru. "The only severe injury was the burn on your back, and that was caused by Inoi."

Nurses came in to check on his condition now that he was awake. "We're going to have to ask you to leave sir," one of the nurses said to Roku.

"Ok, I understand," Roku told the nurse. He walked over to the door and said, "You'll probably get discharged soon, so when you do head over to our usual training grounds." Then he walked out the door.

They discharged him after 20 minutes, once they found that his back was completely healed, to their astonishment. Saru immediately set off toward their usual training ground to meet with Roku sensei. He arrived there to find that not only Roku sensei was there, but also that Kira sensei, Raven, and Senri were there.

"Good, you're here," Kira said. "Roku has informed me of what happened. I'm surprised Kai let you guys live after all."

"Actually," Saru said with a disappointed tone. "He said he only let us live because we didn't put up enough of a fight. He said he would come back in two weeks to finish the job."

Kira nodded and spoke, matter-a-fact, "That is why over the next few weeks you will all be getting special training. Roku, do you want to explain?"

"Sure," he said cheerfully. "Raven you're going to be training with Kira. As for Senri and Saru you're going to be training with me."

_**Tell them no!**_ Son said commandingly.

_Why?_ Saru thought taken a back.

_**Just do it! You're going to be training with me, **_Son said, fuming.

"I'm sorry Roku sensei," Saru said confused. "I can't train with you."

"And why is that?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I just can't. I'm going to be doing some personal training." With that Saru walked toward a large boulder and sat down. He closed his eyes and entered the jungle room that held his tailed beast.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in front of Son, looking up at him. "Hey! Why the hell did you make me blow off Roku sensei like that? What did you mean train with you? I thought you were mad at me!" he yelled at Son.

"_**Shut up snot nosed brat! I don't need any lip from you!"**_ Son yelled back angrily. _**"I am still mad at you, but I can't stand that blasted Isobu!"**_

"Who's Isobu? Saru asked curious, anger forgotten.

"_**Isobu is the name of the three tails and he resides in your brother, and I'm not going to have my jinchuriki lose to his jinchuriki."**_ He said ,finally calming down.

"I'm guessing there's some bad blood between you two," Saru said innocently.

"_**He always put my bananas at the bottom of the ocean,"**_ Son grumbled.

"Hahhahahahahahha!" Saru burst out in laughter. "Let me get this straight. You're mad at him for hiding your food. That's just too funny."

"_**Shut up brat! Do you want me to teach you or not?"**_ Son barked out.

"Yes sir," Saru said snapping to attention while saluting. He then relaxed and asked excitedly, "What are you going to be teaching me first?"

"_**First, I need you to sign something."**_

"Wait, what?" Saru said in disbelief. "You didn't say I'd have to sign something."

"_**Idiot, it's for your training! I'm going to be teaching you the Summoning jutsu. In particular, to summon monkeys."**_

"What is the Summoning jutsu?"

"_**The Summoning jutsu is a space time Ninjutsu that allows you to transport objects or animals instantly to your location."**_

"How big can the summonings get?" Saru asked curiously.

"_**It depends on how much chakra you use and how it's regulated. When you perform the jutsu better, you'll get a more powerful summoning."**_

"Does that mean I can summon you eventually?" Saru asked in wonder.

Son smacked Saru to the ground_**. "No you can't summon me! What kind of idiot are you? I'm inside your head numbskull!"**_

Saru got up from the ground rubbing his head. "You don't have to actually hit me you know?"

Son gave a smile that showed his enormous fangs. _**"I know that, it's just more fun this way."**_ Before Saru could retort Son continued, **"**_**You're going to sign your name in blood on this scroll, and make a hand print below it." **_Son produced a scroll that he was hiding behind one of his tails. _**"You should take this as a prestigious honor," **_he praised. _**"Only one other person has signed this scroll before you."**_

"Who was it?" Saru asked excited that he was going to learn something ultra rare.

"_**Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage."**_

"Wow," he said amazed. "Let's get on with it so I can be as strong as the Third Hokage."

Saru started unraveling it as Son said, _**"I never said it would make you as strong as him you know."**_

"I know, but if he signed it and then became the Third Hokage, it must mean it makes you strong." Son smiled at Saru's innocence.

When the scroll was unraveled Saru asked, "So how do I do this?"

"_**First, you see that empty place next to Hirzuen's name."**_

"Yeah."

"_**You're going to have to bite your finger, to draw some blood, and write your name on the empty place. Next, smear the blood on your hand and place it below your name."**_

"Ok" Saru bit his thumb and used the blood to write his name on the scroll and make the handprint. "Now what?"

"_**Now mold your chakra into your hands, perform these handsigns, and place your hand on the ground while releasing your chakra at the same time. Remember, it only works after you have drawn blood."**_

"Watch this old man, Summoning jutsu!" Saru called out while performing the instructions. There was a puff of smoke and suddenly a small brown monkey with big black eyes was staring up at him.

"_**Hahahahahahahahahha! You only managed to summon Sho! He's practically the worst one! Hahahaha!"**_ Son bellowed out in laughter.

Sho ran off into the jungle near them. "See," Saru lectured. "You hurt his feelings. Come back little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." Where Sho was first summoned there was something that looked like brown pellets. He picked them up, started shaking them, and called out, "I have your food."

Son looked like he was going to burst from laughter and said, _**"That's not his food."**_

"Well, what else could it be?" Then realization dawned on him, and his face took a mask of horror. "You don't mean this is?"

"_**Yep, you're holding Sho's poop."**_With that, Son started up a storm of laughter once again.

"Get back here right now!" Saru shouted suddenly furious. He quickly threw the crap into the jungle after Sho. "When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you were eating that crap instead of the pounding I'm going to give you!"

Saru was fuming as Sho gave his reply. Small deadly brown missiles flew from the jungle at Saru. Saru jumped around frantically to avoid all of them. Saru made a handsign and called, "Release!"

The wave of missiles stopped flying. Son got his laughter under control and said, _**"You are going to practice the Summoning jutsu for the next month."**_

"Next Month! I only have two weeks," Saru complained.

"_**Haven't you learned anything from our time together? Listen, a couple months ago, on the final day of your academy thing, we talked inside here. Do you remember that?"**_ Son said with forced patience.

"Yeah, I think so. That's when we talked and I came back only to find a bunch of time passed," Saru said concentrating.

"_**Well, the reason time passed so fast when you were talking with me was my doing."**_

"What do you mean?" Saru asked confused.

"_**While you're in this room I can slow down or speed up time to match the outside. For this training, the room will be twice as slow as the outside world. This way, you can train for longer periods of time than you normally would, in order to master techniques,"**_ Son said while struggling to keep his patience.

"Really? That's so awesome! Wait a minute, did you say twice? Why don't we make it three or four times instead!" Saru says bursting with excitement.

Son lost his patience. He knocked Saru down to the floor again and said agitated, _**"Because I don't like spending that much time with you, that's why! Now get started!"**_

Saru stood up and got into the position again. He set himself into a determined mindset and shouted, "Summoning jutsu!"

Raven's Perspective

She watched Saru walk away, feeling perplexed. _Saru wouldn't normally blow off Roku sensei like that. I wonder if it's because of his brother, _she thought concerned.

"Moving on," Kira said authoritatively. "Raven, come with me. We need to get started."

Raven and Kira traveled a short distance away until they were in a field that contained many large boulders. "Are we training here?" Raven asked uncertain.

"Yes."

"Are we going to be working on my Taijutsu today? I didn't fair so well against Kai when I tried to use it against him," Raven said, slightly disappointed.

"No, actually," Kira said with a smile. "We are going to be working on a talent that might be unique to you, if I'm correct."

"A talent that is unique to me?" Raven said, confusion coloring her tone.

"Yes. Do you know how chakra works, when involving the brain?"

"Of course, there are chakra pathways running throughout the body. Chakra that goes to the brain helps it function and react to situations depending on how much chakra is being used."

"Correct," Kira replied admirably. She then switched her tone to that of an instructor and said, "When research was done on the brain, it was found that we only use 10% of it. I believe that is due to the size of the pathways to our brain."

Kira activated a Sharingan of her own, looked through Raven's head and said, "Most ninja have certain sized pathways. This make it so they can react to situations at a certain speed. Or only use 10% of their brains. You, on the other hand, have pathways in your brain that is at least 5 times the normal size, and even that could increase as you get older."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that you could have access to more of your brains functions than a normal ninja. In other words, you're not limited to 10% like we are. I believe you will be able to move things with your mind.

"What will I be able to do?"

"You will be able to create shields in midair, deflect jutsus being aimed at you that you can't avoid, and even be able to pick up one of these boulders and fling them at the enemy. We are going to try and develop that over the next two weeks."

"Will doing this allow me to help my team mates?" Raven asked earnestly.

"Most definitely."

"Then I'll do it. Let's get started," Raven said with determination.

"Ok, first I want you to send chakra into your head."

Raven concentrated. She imagined the energy flowing from the other parts of her body into her head. She built it up until she couldn't control any more. "Now what?" she said dizzily.

"I want you try to imagine an invisible barrier out in front of you, and make sure you do not let go of that image."

"Ok." She imagined it shaping in front of her into a circular motion. "I got it."

Suddenly, quick as a whip, Kira held a sword in her hand and brought it down into the barrier. An audible shattering sound was heard, as the barrier was broken. "Not strong enough," she muttered.

"Ah!" Raven yelled out clutching her head in pain. "Why does my head hurt so much?" she let out through gritted teeth.

"I believe it's because you are not used to dealing with your ability yet. Your body has to adapt to the change first, but when it does, you will be able to use your ability to a much greater degree. Now, let's start once more. Begin!"

Raven accepted the pain and started forming the barrier once again as Kira brought her sword down.

Senri's Perspective

_And now it's just Roku sensei and I,_ Senri thought dryly.

"I guess it's just you and me now," Roku said, echoing Senri's thoughts. "At least this way I can focus on training you personally. Now, before we get started, I'm going to evaluate you. You are easily the strongest, physically, of my three students. Your power grows even more so because of your bear mimicry. Plus, you are also a skilled tracker. If it was just that, you would make a great ninja."

Senri sensed a but coming.

"But… your chakra control is mediocre at best. That is the main reason you tire out so fast in your fights. You use too much chakra in your attacks, especially when you lose control," Roku said carefully.

Senri couldn't help that Amurui made his chakra control so difficult. _It's almost impossible to concentrate with Amurui trying to take over all the time,_ Senri mentally complained.

"We're going be working on you refining your chakra control, so we can improve you bear mimicry. Follow me," Roku said as he walked toward a very tall tree.

_It looks like it's made of oak, like most of the trees around here. It is tall, too. Must be 50 feet high,_ Senri mentally commented.

"Although it may seem like a step backwards for you, because of your skill as a genin, I want you to practice the Tree Climbing exercise."

Senri raised one of his eyebrows as if to say, what is that?

"You don't know about the Tree Climbing exercise? I thought I told it to you guys," Roku said while trying to recall a memory.

Senri shook his head.

"I guess it slipped my mind," Roku said as he knocked his palm against his forehead. "Well, to put it simply, the Tree Climbing exercise is a chakra control exercise. You have to release a fixed amount of chakra on the bottom of your feet, and when doing this correctly, you will be able walk up the tree. If you use too much chakra, then you break the bark where your foot is and fall off and if you use too little, then you slip off. Let me demonstrate how to do it the correct way."

Roku walked toward and up the tree without skipping a beat. As he continued to walk up the tall tree, he called down, "Putting this into real world use, you can use it to walk up walls and cling to ceilings. This would be an essential for stealth missions and the like." He hoped down and landed lightly next to Senri. "Your turn," Roku said with an encouraging smile.

Senri looked up at the tree and closed his eyes, while putting chakra into his feet. He took a tentative step forward, onto the tree, and tried to take the next step to walk up. Amurui's consciousness flared up overcharging the chakra in his feet. He was immediately launched 20 feet away, skidding from the sheer force of the impact. _This is going to be a lot harder than I thought,_ Senri said internally.

Roku whistled and said, "Wow, that was one of the worst attempts I've seen in a long time."

Senri shot him a intense glare.

"Sorry, sorry," Roku said quickly with his hands held up defensibly. "I forget that you're a genin sometimes." He took on a serious face and said, "Continue."

As Senri was about to try again, he thought tiredly, _this is going to be a long two weeks._

**Sorry for the short chapter this time, I couldn't figure out how to add any more to it. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review, follow, and favorite. Next time: the rematch and the aftermath.**


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